Travel Planner: free travel planning game on a small budget

What is Travel Planner?

Thumby is off to Skip's birthday party in Bayhaven with a small budget. Pick a plan that adds up, catch the metro with time to spare, then miss the train anyway when the metro breaks down. Check the ticket rules, rebook within the money left, make the hostel before its desk closes and catch the train home on Sunday. Prices and times change every run.

Travel Planner is a free travel planning game with Thumby. Skip's birthday party is on Saturday at 19:00 in Bayhaven, a made-up seaside town, and Thumby has a small budget for the whole weekend. Pick the plan that fits it with money to spare, work out what's left, and choose a metro that gets you to the station on time.

Then the metro stops in a tunnel and the train leaves without you. Check the ticket's rules, compare a coach, a car-share seat, a walk-up ticket and a ticket change against your wallet and the hostel's closing time, and get home on Sunday with a last sum. Prices and times change every run, and every answer is explained with the full sum.

At a glance

Category

Adventure

Difficulty

Easy

Play time

3–5 min

Price

Free, in your browser, sign-up optional

How to play

Do the sums

Plans list their prices without totals, and trains list departure times: add them up yourself.

Keep a cushion

Keep at least $15 of the budget and some minutes spare for surprises. Tight plans can work, but they're risky.

Rebook smart

When the train is missed, check the ticket's rules, then compare price against the wallet and arrival against the hostel and the party.

Score

100 points for the best call, 50 for one that works but is risky. A choice that doesn't work costs one of 3 lives. Finish for 5 points per dollar left.

Scoring

Eight decisions in four chapters. The best call scores 100 points, one that works but is risky scores 50, and one that doesn't work costs one of 3 lives (Thumby then takes the best option).

Finish the trip and every dollar left in the wallet adds 5 points. Prices and times change every run. Your best score is kept in this browser.

What it trains

Budget sums

Adding up a plan's prices and working out what's left before you book.

Time maths

Adding ride times to departures and keeping minutes spare for delays.

Plan B

Checking a ticket's rules after a missed train, then comparing rebooking options against both the wallet and the clock.

Strategy and tips

Add before you book

Plans show the prices but not the total. A plan $6 over budget looks just like one that fits.

Keep a cushion

Money and minutes. The spare money in this trip is what pays for the missed train.

Read the ticket rules

Cheap fixed tickets are often only valid on one train, but many let you change for a fee. Check before buying again.

Check both numbers

A rebooking option has to fit the wallet and arrive in time. The cheapest one can still arrive too late.

Small costs count

Forgetting the food or the change fee is how a budget goes wrong. Do the last sum before you open the banking app.

Why play Travel Planner?

Travel planning is everyday maths under pressure: adding prices, subtracting from a budget, adding minutes to departure times, and comparing options when plans go wrong. Travel Planner practises those sums in a short story, along with two habits that make trips calmer: keep a cushion of time and money, and read your ticket's rules before you pay twice.

Frequently asked questions